32P/Comas Solà

{{Infobox comet

| name = 32P/Comas Solà

| image = 32P 2014-12-04 NEOWISE image 3-color.png

| caption = Infrared image of Comet Comas Solà taken by NEOWISE on 4 December 2014

| discoverer = Josep Comas i Solà

| discovery_site = Fabra Observatory

| discovery_date = 5 November 1926

| mpc_name = P/1926 V1, P/1935 P1

| designations = {{unbulleted|1927 III, 1935 IV, 1944 II|1961 III, 1969 VIII|1978 XVII, 1987 XVIII}}

| orbit_ref = {{r|jpldata|MPC}}

| epoch = 5 May 2025 (JD 2460800.5)

| observation_arc = 98.49 years

| obs = 5,507

| perihelion = 2.025 AU

| aphelion = 7.082 AU

| semimajor = 4.554 AU

| eccentricity = 0.55529

| period = 9.718 years

| inclination = 9.920°

| asc_node = 54.532°

| arg_peri = 54.703°

| mean = 38.473°

| tjup = 2.678

| Earth_moid = 1.029 AU

| Jupiter_moid = 0.247 AU

| physical_ref = {{r|jpldata}}

| mean_diameter = {{cvt|8.4|km|mi}}

| M1 = 10.3

| M2 = 13.5

| last_p = 20 April 2024

| next_p =

}}

32P/Comas Solà is a periodic comet with a current orbital period of 9.7 years around the Sun.

Observational history

32P/Comas Solà was discovered November 5, 1926, by Josep Comas Solà. As part of his work on asteroids for the Fabra Observatory (Barcelona), he was taking photographs with a {{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on}} telescope. The comet's past orbital evolution became a point of interest as several astronomers suggested early on that the comet might be a return of the then lost periodic comet Spitaler (113P/Spitaler). In 1935 additional positions had been obtained, and P. Ramensky investigated the orbital motion back to 1911. He noted the comet passed very close to Jupiter during May 1912 and that, prior to this approach, the comet had a perihelion distance of 2.15 AU and an orbital period of 9.43 years. The identity with comet Spitaler was thus disproven.

In 1933, the Danish astronomer Julie Vinter Hansen undertook significant new research which calculated the orbit of the comet up to 1980, predicting when it would return to the Earth's orbit.{{Cite journal|title=The periodic comet Comas Sola (1926 f) at its return in the year 1935|last=Hansen|first=Julie M. Vinter|journal=Publikationer og Mindre Meddeler Fra Kobenhavns Observatorium|volume=85|pages=1–16|date=1933|bibcode= 1933PCopO..85....1H}}

In 1969, Soviet astronomers Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko searched for 32P/Comas Solà on photographic plates, and serendipously discovered a new comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qV4Q49x8PTsC&pg=PA241 |chapter=67P/1969 R1 (Churyumov-Gerasimenko) |title=Cometography: A Catalog of Comets; Volume 5: 1960–1982 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |first1=Gary W. |last1=Kronk |first2=Maik |last2=Meyer |name-list-style=amp |pages=241–245 |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-87226-3}}

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web

|title=32P/Comas Sola Orbit

|url=http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=32P

|publisher=Minor Planet Center

|access-date=2014-10-29}}

{{cite web

|type=last observation:2014-01-25

|title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 32P/Comas Sola

|url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=32P

|publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory

|access-date=2010-02-26}}

}}

External links

{{JPL Small Body|id=1000015}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20141029232855/http://scully.cfa.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/returnprepeph.cgi?d=c&o=0032P Elements and Ephemeris for 32P/Comas Sola] – Minor Planet Center
[http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0032P/index.html 32P/Comas Sola] – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net
[http://cometography.com/pcomets/032p.html 32P/Comas Solà] – Gary W. Kronk's Cometography

Category:Periodic comets